Robots have been the stuff of fiction for many years. But they also have served very practical uses in recent times.

You've probably seen the "bomb disposal" robots on TV programs or the news. This was one of the first practical applications of field robots in dangerous situations.

Recently, robots have started to be applied to firefighting and rescue situations. iRobot, the company most well known for their Roomba robot vacuum cleaners, has interesting video links of robots in these applications. For more information, click here for the iRobot web site.